Boxer As A Service Or Therapy Dog

I have often wondered about Boxers as service or therapy dogs. How do they compare with other breeds? I get so much joy from my boxer dog Bonnie, she loves people and is such a friendly and enthusiastic dog. So I scoured the internet for stories and opinions about Boxers as service or therapy dogs.

I was quite surprised at my results, and it was very encouraging. I found a video of Summer a one year old boxer who was being trained as a service dog and doing very well. There was another of a boxer, a therapy dog who visited rest homes with his owner. A lot of boxer owners wanted to know whether their dogs would be suitable or up to the task.

One of the biggest concerns was that boxers very enthusiastic and sometimes rough play, would they knock the elderly or young over with their enthusiastic greeting? The answer was no from people who had boxers as therapy dogs in fact there was one story where a boxer dog owner had an elderly friend who was very frail and was coming to visit them and they were really worried that their enthusiastic boxer may knock them over but it was the complete opposite they were really surprised. Their dog was unusually gentle with their elderly friend and they became best of mates.

Another one of the boxer dogs admirable traits it seems is that they are sensitive to people and their conditions and when presented with someone who is frail or sick they are very gentle and respond accordingly. Really its no surprise to me as I know how kind and gentle the boxer can be, all they want is to be loved. They adore children and as a therapy dog for children with terminal illnesses they are the perfect companion.

One fact that I came across which showed off the boxers ability to adapt was during the first world war they were used by the German and Hungarian armies as guard dogs, warding off intruders and such. After the war these dogs were retrained as Guide Dogs for the veterans who had been blinded by poisonous gases during the war, so they had turned from aggressive guard dogs to gentle and caring dogs for the blind.

So in fact the Boxer it seems is a very good dog as far as service and therapy dogs are concerned. The challenge as an owner of this wonderful breed is to know how to bring out all their admiral qualities and train them accordingly for this kind of work which they can truly excel at and bring others a great deal of joy and pleasure.